


Impractical Immune Responses

by hufflepirate



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allergies, Caretaking, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Team, Sickfic, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 04:53:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8131141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflepirate/pseuds/hufflepirate
Summary: Keith discovers that he's horribly allergic to something on the new planet they've landed on, and Coran discovers that his cryopods are completely unable to do anything about seasonal allergies.Luckily, the rest of the team has some ideas about what to do.  Keith may not be good at acknowledging his weaknesses, asking for help, or letting other people take care of him, but he's about to get a LOT of practice - enough to start surprising himself.





	

Keith stumbled forward out of the pod, still shivering with the cold of having been in cryo, and took a deep breath, looking forward to being able to breathe again. Instead, he coughed, hard, doubling over with the force and the surprise of it. Hunk caught him and thumped him on the back, but it didn't really help. 

Once he caught his breath, he turned toward Coran, demanding, “Why didn't it fix me?"

Coran looked embarrassed, "Hmm, well, see, the pod's tests say nothing is wrong with you. It can't find any injuries, pathogens, or poisons in your system."

"What does that mean?" Shiro asked, sounding worried.

"Well, the pod seems to be showing that Keith's body is attacking _something_ , but it can't recognize what it is. It even tested for unknown diseases, and it didn't find anything. His immune system is going _crazy_ , but none of the things the pod found have any major chemical or biological effects on their own. It's like it's fighting something that can't hurt it."

"So, it's an allergy?" Pidge asked.

"A what?" Allura asked.

"Whoa, wait. You don't have _allergies_?" Lance exclaimed, "That's not even _fair_!"

"I guess not." Coran said, "What are they?"

"They're exactly what you described," Shiro answered, "Your body decides that some kind of pollen or mold or whatever is a threat, and attacks it, but since there's really nothing there to fight, you just get sick for a while until the pollen goes away."

"Yeah, I don't think our bodies do that," Coran said, "It seems very impractical."

Keith glared at him, "I'm not doing it on _purpose_. Just fix it!"

"I never said you were, Keith. But I'm not sure if I _can_ fix it. Maybe if I make some modifications to the pod's system so that it can take out the 'whatever.' But then I don't want it taking out any of the things you need..." he trailed off like he was still thinking about it.

Keith groaned, leaning into Hunk's side for a moment even though he usually didn't like to get so close to people. Even if Coran _could_ get the pod ready to handle his allergies, it was probably going to take a while, and the thought of having to wait before he could make this go away sent a rush of exhaustion through his body.

Hunk wrapped his arm more tightly around Keith's shoulders, but it was actually sort of nice. "Soup," he announced encouragingly, "I'm going to make you soup. _That_ 'll make you feel better."

Keith smiled, but he thought Hunk might be able to tell it was at least half fake. He was a little reluctant to believe that any kind of soup Hunk could throw together on this new planet he was apparently allergic to was actually going to help, but he appreciated the effort, probably. It was a little uncomfortable thinking about the others fussing over him, but he guessed it was better than being alone. Probably.

"Here, Keith," Hunk said, shoving him gently away from his side, "Hold onto Shiro for a little bit while I go get started in the kitchen."

Keith didn't really mean to grab ahold of Shiro, but when his legs wobbled, Shiro half caught him anyway. He wasn't sure whether his legs were so weak from cryo or from not being able to breathe well, but he at least felt a little bit more comfortable letting Shiro support him than he had when it was Hunk. He'd known him longer, and it didn't feel so bad depending on their leader.

"I think you'd better sit down," Shiro said. Keith nodded, focusing on his breathing, but actually walking toward a good sitting place felt beyond him, just now.

"Look, Keith, why don't I-" Shiro paused for the moment, looking a little awkward, "Uh, why don't I just carry you? For a minute. While you're still wobbly from cryo."

Keith thought about it for a moment, measuring the indignity of letting himself be carried against the wobble in his legs and the exhaustion running through the rest of him. Pidge looked awkwardly away, like she knew how uncomfortable he must be. Lance was still staring, though, and Keith couldn't possibly let himself be carried around while Lance was watching. He glared at Lance, hoping it would drive the other paladin away, but Lance just seemed even more amused by the whole thing.

"I'm ok," he insisted, tightening his grip on Shiro's arm for stability as he tried taking a step toward the doorway. It was mostly fine, but he was also definitely too wobbly - _not_ too sick, he told himself, just too wobbly - to make it all the way to the couches in their lounge area on his own.

"Hey, Lance," Pidge said pointedly, "Now that we know Keith's gonna be ok, we should probably go check Blue. Remember how you said you thought she'd taken a couple too many hits last time we were out?" It wasn't a great way to get Lance to leave, but Pidge grabbed his sleeve as she said it and started dragging him off anyway, without letting him get a word in otherwise, and Keith stopped trying to walk for a moment to smile at her. She winked back, then rolled her eyes as she shoved Lance out the door in front of her.

"I -" Allura said, like she, too, had picked up on the awkwardness, "I have a few things to check in another wing of the castle, now that we know Keith is going to be alright."  She hurried off in the other direction, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, glad that she was going but still tired and sore. 

Alone with Shiro, Coran, and the cryo pods, Keith tried to take a deep breath to center himself now that it was quieter and he didn't feel so watched. It made him cough again, letting go of Shiro with one hand to cover his mouth. Shiro wrapped an arm around his waist to help keep him upright, and he leaned into it, hard, letting Shiro hold him up almost completely.

Once he caught his breath again, he thought about Shiro's offer again. Hunk was in the kitchen. Pidge and Lance were all the way in Blue's hangar. Allura and the mice were gone now, and Coran was absorbed in staring at the pods and going 'huh,' like he had no idea they were there.

Being carried suddenly seemed like a real option, and not an unpleasant one. He couldn't bring himself to _say_ 'carry me,' but he thought if Shiro was quick about it, he could stand being carried. At least for right now, he could. Everything hurt, and he'd just remembered how dizzy his coughing fits made him, and for right now, he could stand it. 

He nodded at Shiro, hoping he'd get the message. Shiro nodded back, then just looked at him for a moment, eyes going suddenly hard and calculating, then warming back up as he refocused on Keith's face.

"Piggyback," he announced. "That way it's not so awkward. I'll squat, though, so you don't have to jump." Keith nodded, and Shiro let go of him for a moment, just long enough for Keith to feel wobbly again, then crouched in front of him so he could clamber up onto his back.

Once Shiro was carrying him, Keith felt something inside himself relax, and it was suddenly all he could do to keep his head up, instead of collapsing forward onto Shiro's shoulders.

He couldn't remember the last time someone had carried him anywhere, and he suddenly felt both desperately weak and oddly safe. If he felt more awake, he thought that might mean something to him, but as it was, it was almost more than he could process. He kept breathing, and he held his head up, and he let Shiro carry him to the big white couches near the kitchen and the tunnels to their hangars.

When Shiro set him down, he felt surprisingly reluctant to let go, and at the last moment before Shiro moved away, he found himself reaching out, almost involuntarily, to grab Shiro's wrist. "Hey, uh - can you sit here with me for a little bit? I'm still feeling kind of dizzy."

Shiro smiled. "Sure." Then he sat down next to Keith, close enough that Keith could lean against him if he wanted to. Keith was surprised to find that he did, and that when he let himself lean against the older paladin's side, it almost felt natural.

He snorted briefly, before realizing it was a bad idea and sniffling again to try to keep his nose from running quite so much. "Sorry, Shiro. I must really be sick."

Shiro patted him on the knee. "Don't worry about it. You're alright."

Keith almost even believed him.

 

*****

 

Keith woke up on the couch, curled up on his side under a blanket, with Shiro shaking his shoulder gently. He picked his head up, realized he was lying in a puddle of drool, and blushed heavily.

"Hey, Keith," Shiro said gently, "Sorry to wake you up, but the rest of us are having lunch and we thought you might want to try to eat with us. Hunk made you some soup a while ago, and we've been keeping it warm for you."

Keith sat up, closing his mouth and suddenly realizing that he might have been lying in drool, but his tongue was painfully dry. He moved it around in his mouth uncomfortably for a moment, then ended up breathing just the wrong way and started coughing again, hard. Shiro patted him on the back, but it didn't do anything, because this time it was more of a gag reflex problem than a phlegm problem. A wave of frustration rolled over him as he thought about how much he'd been hoping the pods could fix him.

Once he could get control of himself again, he managed to croak, "Yeah, soup sounds like a good idea. My mouth's really dry."

And his throat hurt. Delightful.

Shiro's hand hovered near his elbow as he sat up, but he didn't accept the help. He felt more stable now that he'd slept a little bit, and when he made it to his feet without feeling dizzy, he even smiled, for a moment. Shiro smiled back.

He couldn't walk as fast as usual, just now, but he felt good not having to accept any help to get to the dining room. When he got there, he realized Pidge had scooted over to sit next to Lance, leaving him her usual seat at the end, closest to the door. He wasn't sure whether to be appreciative or offended that she'd tried to save him a couple of extra feet of walking, so he just sunk into the chair like it was his own.

Hunk was on his feet almost immediately, "Oh, good! You're up! Let me go get your soup! It's not _exactly_ chicken, but it sort of _tastes_ like chicken, and I mean - I know that's just the thing you say, right, 'tastes like chicken' but I really was trying, man, and-” Keith couldn't hear Hunk once he got through the door to the kitchen, but he wasn't sure he really needed to. He wasn't really hungry, he just wanted his head to feel less like it was dry where it should be wet and wet where it should be dry, and the rest of the details of the soup didn't really matter.

Hunk was still going strong as he came back in, "I've set aside a little extra of all the chopped herbs I used, so if you're not feeling it, you just let me know, and I can tweak it a little, but it should be good - I mean, _I_ think it's good-"

Listening to him was exhausting, so Keith cut him off, "I'm sure it'll be great." His voice was rough and came out a little quieter than he'd wanted it to, but Hunk still heard.

"Oh man, you sound rough. Better eat some of this." He put the bowl down in front of him, and Keith nodded back.

Suddenly, he became painfully aware that they were all staring at him again. If this was what being sick was going to be like, he wasn't sure he could handle it. He might have to just lock himself in his room and refuse to come out. This was ridiculous. He stared back at everyone, not quite able to bring himself to eat while they were all looking.

"So, Allura," Shiro said, suddenly and pointedly, "How's your morning been?" Pidge picked up the cue and looked away to watch Allura's answer, but Hunk kept watching Keith like a hawk, and Coran and Lance only glanced away briefly. He tried not to let it weird him out too much. Maybe if he could get a bite or two down, Hunk would be satisfied and stop _staring_.

The first bite was immediately soothing, dampening his dry mouth and easing his sore throat as he swallowed. A relieved sigh came out of his throat in spite of himself and Hunk's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh no, is it ok? I hope it's ok. I can fix it!"

Keith took another bite, quickly, hoping it would ease his throat before he had to talk again, then answered, "No, Hunk, it's great! It wasn't that kind of sigh."

"Oh good."

Keith nodded back.

It took another five minutes before he finally stopped feeling watched, but once they settled into a normal lunchtime conversation, Keith actually found himself glad that he'd come to lunch. He'd spent long enough alone in the desert that he didn't always feel like being around everyone at lunch even when he _wasn't_ sick, but the normalcy felt good.

It also felt good to know he didn't have to go do more training after lunch. The steam from the soup was loosening up some of the mucus in his sinuses, and he could feel himself getting tired again, nap or no nap.

On his way back to his room, moving by himself and almost at a normal speed, he patted Hunk on the shoulder to say thank you, because he couldn't quite manage it in words just now. He didn't have that much energy left for other people, even people he liked.

 

*****

 

His room was quiet, and safe, and if it was a little cold, too, he didn't much mind right now. He sank down onto his bunk, thinking, for a moment, that he should be doing something - trying to learn to read Altean, maybe, or looking at the schematics for his lion, which Pidge had found ages ago and he'd never looked over, or fiddling with his bayard to see if he could get it to change forms if he thought about it hard enough. 

Instead, he laid down and took another nap. It was just easier, that way, and he didn't have the energy to feel guilty about it.

He didn't sleep as deeply this time, waking up to cough, or because his nose was running too much, or just because he couldn't breathe.

During one of his brief periods of wakefulness, this one prompted by a sudden but intense headache, Pidge's head suddenly poked in around his door.

He looked her in the eye and she suddenly blushed. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up."

He realized abruptly that he probably looked like he was glaring, and he forced his face muscles to relax in spite of the headache, "You didn't. I'm ok. Just a little headache." He didn't really want to talk, but he also didn't really want to lie here thinking about how much his head hurt, so it guessed it didn't really matter.

"Oh, good!" she answered, "I mean, not good, but convenient. I mean, convenient for me, not for you. I'm sure it's inconvenient for you."

He snorted lightly, then realized it probably looked like he was trying to blow nose bubbles at her or something. He sniffled and sat up, reaching for a tissue to blow his nose and trying not to blush. Why was being sick so awkward and embarrassing?

Pidge came in, holding the door open behind her so that a rickety-looking robot could follow her in.

"Look, I know you don't always like to be around people all the time, so I made you a robot for if you need something, so you don't have to talk to anybody. You don't have to use it. But it's got cameras, and I made you a remote control, so you definitely can, if you want. So that's what's convenient. Want me to show you how to get the robot to bring you some headache medicine from the infirmary?"

Ok, he had to admit it - that was pretty cool. He sat up, holding a hand out, "No, it sounds cool. I can definitely try it."

Pidge beamed, bounding over to sit next to him and shove the remote control into his hand.

The robot looked like it might tip over at any moment, but it was actually pretty cool. He couldn't see everything through its camera 'eyes,' but he could see enough to navigate it around, and the controls were actually pretty intuitive. Talking to Coran through the robot's speakers was a little weird, but somehow it was easier knowing that Coran couldn't see his face or his body language and wouldn't be judging him.

He managed to get the robot back without knocking it over or bumping into anything, and Pidge got so excited about it that she hugged him. He hugged her back, for once, instead of feeling awkward, and while he was happy to let her leave, robot safely delivered, he was surprised to find that he hadn't actually minded the interruption. Pidge wasn't bad to have around, and it made him feel good to know his friends were thinking about him.

As he laid back down for another nap, hoping it would kick the rest of his allergies, he found himself actually smiling at the thought. Then again, it always _was_ easier to think of his teammates caring about him when they weren't doing it in his face.

 

*****

 

When Shiro and Coran poked their heads in to check on him, he pretended he was asleep. It was nice to think he could have let them in if he'd felt like it, though. When Coran actually knocked, he accepted a cup of tea, and found that he didn't mind doing it.

 

*****

 

His next real visitor was Allura, and Keith was surprised to find that he _genuinely_ didn't mind the interruption this time, even as she breezed her way into the room without asking. His headache was gone, but he'd finally hit a point where he couldn't fall asleep, and he could only get so much amusement out of steering Pidge's robot back and forth across his tiny room. He didn't feel desperate, but he did feel like it would be nice to talk to someone for a while.

"Hey there, Keith," she said, "I thought you might be getting bored stuck in here by yourself - the others haven't abandoned you too much, have they?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm alright."

"Well, anyway, I know _I_ always want a book to read when I'm stuck in bed, so I dug through the attic to find some old books of mine with pictures in them. I know you don't read Altean, but you should be able to figure out what's going on most of the time, and I can always read to you if you'd like."

He didn't have an answer to that, but Allura just took his silence as a 'yes,' pulling a chair over beside his bed and piling the books on the floor where they could both reach them. She started giving him short plot summaries, one right after the other, holding the covers so he could see them. It was all too much for him to follow, with his brain so foggy, and when she finally got to the end of her pile and asked him what he wanted to start with, he struggled to find an answer.

"I, uh - I -"

"Oh dear. I'm keeping you awake, aren't I? You should have said something!" Allura looked worried, but Keith had the sudden distinct impression that she was just as appalled that he hadn't said anything as she was embarrassed about it, herself. He found himself smiling in spite of himself, because it was just so like her.

"It's alright," he answered, "I'm just thinking a little slow right now. Why don't you just read whichever one was your favorite as a kid?"

It came out before he had really thought about it, but he was surprised to find that he really _did_ sort of want to be read to. He didn't like being fussed over - he didn't even _really_ like having people around when he didn't feel well, or at least, he hadn't _thought_ he did, but as Allura studied her book pile, he found himself adjusting to the idea of it without much trouble. Huh. This day just kept getting weirder.

Two stories later, he definitely wanted to be alone again, but when he politely informed Allura that he thought he should try to sleep a little more, she was perfectly willing to leave him alone to thumb through another one of her picture books in peace.

 

*****

 

By the time Coran came to see if he wanted to go eat dinner with the rest of the team or if he wanted some soup in his room, Keith was ready for people again, in a way he couldn't remember feeling for a long, long time.  He didn't plan to stay long, but he actually wanted to go sit with the others, which was a weird and new thing.

Once he got there, Lance was weirdly starey, and Hunk and Coran both fussed over him, trying to get him to eat more and different things and arguing over what he needed, and Shiro's attempts to distract everyone got steadily more ridiculous and less effective the longer dinner went on, but Pidge had given him the chair on the end, again, so he'd be able to bolt if he needed to, and he was actually sort of starting to get used to this being fussed over thing.

He begged out of dinner a little bit earlier than anyone else, but as tired as he was, he didn't feel frustrated with the others, just too tired to stay really awake.  That was new, too.

 

*****

 

Shiro checked in on him one more time before he went to bed, and Keith let him tuck his blankets around him just to be sure he was comfortable, and he didn't let himself laugh, even though he wanted to.

 

He didn't realize until Shiro was gone that if anyone had tried to _tuck him into bed_ this morning, he'd have bitten their head off, and he wouldn't even have been _tempted_ to laugh.

 

*****

 

3 hours after everyone should have been asleep and 2 before any of them should have woken up again, his door opened in the middle of his biggest coughing fit in hours. He wasn't sure who he'd been expecting at that time of night, but it certainly wasn't Lance.

"Thank quiznak!" Lance said loudly, dragging a box of something behind him as he barged in, "What did you say to Pidge? She's been keeping me away from you all day like some kind of guard dog, and I haven't had a moment of peace!"

"I'm pretty sure that's not how you use the word 'quiznak,'" Keith answered, once he could catch his breath.

"Shut your quiznak, Keith. I'll use it however I want."

"Why are you _here_?"

Lance snorted. "To fix you, obviously. I don't know how anyone's supposed to sleep with you coughing in here like you're gonna die."

"Oh, like _any_ of us could keep you up if you _really_ wanted to be asleep."

"Shows what you know!"

Lance was setting up some kind of weird machine in the corner, and Keith's curiosity had finally gotten the best of him, "What are you doing?"

"It's a humidifier. Kind of. It's parts from a couple of different machines in the kitchen and it makes steam. I'm pretty sure it's not gonna burn your room down. But that's not the cool part. _This_ is the cool part." He held up a bag of something green, and Keith's eyes widened. He decided, suddenly, that he must be dreaming, or hallucinating, or maybe losing his mind.

"Is that _pot_? Are you seriously carrying _pot_ in _space_? No wonder you're such a bad pilot!"

"Hey, I'm a great pilot. The best. The Tailor. But no. It's one of Hunk's herbs from the kitchen. I sat in the kitchen smelling them all while he was cooking, and this one will  _definitely_  clear your sinuses fastest."

Lance was right. He hadn't been leaning over the 'humidifier' for long before he could feel the steam opening things up in his head and chest. "Hey, I think it's actually _working_!" he exclaimed.

"Of course it is!" Lance answered, "Didn't I say it would?  If you had a mold or dust allergy, you'd have had that already, and steam is great for outside allergies."

As things loosened up, he started coughing again, but this time it was productive, gross, wet coughing, the kind that he at least knew would _eventually_ help.

Lance stayed with him, which was weird, and didn't seem to be judging him as he started spitting up chunks of mucus, which was even weirder, and then started rubbing his back like he wanted to comfort him, which was weirdest of all.

After two more hacking coughs, he couldn't hold in the question anymore, "Why aren't you ditching me now that you brought the stuff? It's not like we're friends."

"Keith, please. You wound me. Don't you remember? You cradled me in your arms..."

Keith tried to laugh but coughed instead, even harder than before. "I - knew - you - remembered," he managed between coughs.

"Yeah," Lance said, his voice carefully casual in a way Keith had learned to see through months ago, "So anyway, now we're even."

He stayed there, watching Keith cough and thumping him in the back to jostle things loose, until all the water had boiled out of the dehumidifier and Keith was too tired to sit up. Keith tried not to smile too much. Sure. They were even.

 

*****

 

The next morning, Keith made it to breakfast on his own, and without an invitation or any help from anyone.

"You look like you're feeling much better!" Allura said, clearly pleased.

"Yeah," Keith answered, "I think Lance actually fixed me."

All eyes turned to Lance. Keith thought Pidge's eyebrow might be about to climb clear off her face.

"Ha," Lance said awkwardly, "That's funny. Looks like _somebody's_ been hallucinating. You should check him for a fever, Coran."

"Oh no," Keith answered, "You're not gonna get away with _that_ one again. We _bonded_."

Lance spun his finger next to his temple and mouthed, "Hallucinations."

Keith smiled slyly at him, "You should really see the humidifier he built me. It's much better than you'd expect for something _Lance_ built. It didn't leak _or_ catch anything on fire."

"That's actually a really good idea," Pidge said, sounding mildly surprised.

Lance opened his mouth, then shut it again, like he'd just realized he couldn't take credit without admitting to having helped. Or cared. Or whatever that had been.

Keith snorted, not quite willing to laugh at Lance after he'd been so nice last night, but not quite able to help himself, either.

"I bet I can make it work better," Pidge announced, "Or at least put it on a timer, so you don't have to watch it so carefully - I assume it doesn't have a timer?"

"I don't know," he answered, "Why don't you go check it out? I might need it again, unless Coran's figured out how to get the cryopods to fix allergies."

"Come on, Hunk, you're good with heating elements," Pidge said, grabbing Hunk by the sleeve and pulling him along toward Keith's room.

Keith trailed along after them, grinning like a loon. This felt normal again, even if Pidge's new project _was_ for him, and more than that, it felt like a victory. He was definitely ahead, for the moment, in whatever this weird rivalry was with Lance, and he was definitely winning at whatever this other thing was, this big emotional _thing_ that he could feel the edges of just outside his heart. Friendship. Teamwork. Life. Whatever. He wasn't sure, exactly, but then, he didn't have to be. The rest of them would help him figure it out.


End file.
